Connector.



Patented May 28,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- H. A. BECKERQ CONNECTOR. APPLICATION FILEDNOV-27.1916.

Patented May 28,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

El vwautoz RUJBERT A. BECKER, 01F POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TCHARLES TJREMMN, OF JPOUGHKEEIPSIE, NEW YORK.

CONNECTOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May as, ladle.

Application filed November 27, 1916. Serial No. 133,63t.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT A. BECKER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Poughkeepsie, in the county of Dutchess and. State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Connectors,of which the following is a specification,

This invention relates ,to connectors and particularly to that classemployed in electrical construction, and in which a branch or tap lineis firmly gripped by said connector, and either said line, or thegripping member, made to directly engage the main line,.or otherelectrical conducting member.

Heretofore, when it was desired to tap a cable acting as an electricconductor, the insulation was scraped away for a considerable distanceand a long, bared end of a second cable was wound about, or spliced tothe main cable, after which the two were united permanently bysolder,'and if insulated, covered with tape, which resulted in a rough,uneven and unsightly piece of work.

By this method an unnecessarily long section of branch cable waspractically wasted, While an unnecessarily large section of the maincable had to be. bared. Furthermore, the latter was generally somutilated that, if

. the tap were intended to be but temporary,

a removal of the same left the main cable often quite weakened and cutup, to say .nothing of the immense amount of insulating necessary to bedone after attaching the tap, or removing the same.

In the present invention the object is to provide an inexpensive deviceof such construction that, to a very short bared section of a main cablecan be rigidly secured a short bared end of a branch line. Furthermore,this attachment can be made as permanent and solid as required by theUnderwriters and as heretofore attained by soldering, and at the sametime so readily separable or detachable that the removal of the branchline will not materially affect the appearance, condition or strength ofthe main line conductor. a

Another object is to provide in such a device a construction whereby theend of the tap, or branch line, is securely held in firm, bindingrelation with the main cable.

Another object is 'toprovide a 'l', embodying the invention and whereinthe ends of two conductors are twisted and securely joined, while inbinding contact against them is secured a gripping member encircllng theend of a third conductor comprismg the tap line.

Another object of the invention is to providc in such a device a gripfor the tap line that Wlll tend to increase its force with any pull onthe latter; to provide a device that nsures a large, solid bearingsurface between it and the main cable; to provide means in such a deviceadapted to permit a ready examination by the inspector of the conditionof the cable connection within the device; and to provide other detailsand advantages as hereinafter described.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of the invention in itspreferred form w th insulator casing or jacket removed; Flg. 2 is avertical, diametrical section of the same; Fig. 3 is a view showing thediametrical section and bottom end view of each of the three principalcomponent parts of the device separated from each other; Fig. 4 is asection on the line 44 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a detail view of thebushing; Fig. 5 is a plan View of the same; Fig. 6 is a section at rightangles to Fig. 2 and showing a slightly modified construction; Figs. 7,8, 9 and 10 show different forms of cable gripping members; Fig. 11 isan elevation and Fig. 12 a diametrical section of the invention embodiedin a pipe ground connection; Fig. 13 is an elevation and Fig. 14 adiametrical section of a 'll', cable connection simultaneously unitingthe two ends of a main cable and joining thereto a branch line or tap.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, of the drawings, the invention inits preferred embodiment comprises a hollow member 25, internallythreaded at 26 and provided throughout a part of its length with atapered bore 27, while its external surface is tapered at 28, and at 29is polygonal in cross a section, to present a suitable surface for theengagement of a wrench therewith, the

smaller end portion 28 also being pierced by.

an aperture 30, through which it is possible for an lnspector to examinethe extent of the cooperation of the parts within.

A plug or male member 33, polygonal on its outer surface 34 to providefor a wrench, is reduced in size at 35 and externally threaded at 36 toengage the internal threads 26 of the member 25. Said plug is piercedtransversely by an aperture 37 opening downardly into an enlarged,substantially cylindrical opening 38, in turn opening at itsdiametrically opposite sides in longitudinally extending apertures 39 inalinement with, and of the same width as, the aperture 37.

A cable gripping plug is shown in one form in Fig. 3 as comprising abody portion 42, slotted or split at 43 to provide separate fingers 44,tapered upon their outer sides 45 and themselves surrounding acontinuation of the bore 46, of said portion. In Fig. 5 is shown abushing comprising a cylindrical body portion 50, apertured at 49 andhaving integral, oppositely extending and longitudinally projecting ears51, while a substantially semi-cylindrical roove 52 crosses the upperface of said bofy portion and is disposed centrally of, and in alinementwith, said ears.

In the use of this device, a short section 54 of the end of a tap orbranch conductor 55, is bared and inserted inwardlythrough the smallerend of the member 28, after which a gripping member is slipped over theend of said conductor and allowed to slide down into the'tapered'portion 27 of the bore of the member 28. A bushing 50 is thenplaced on the member 42 and surrounding the extreme end portion of saidconductor, with the ears 51 of the former proj ecting downwardly and ondiametrically opposite sides of the said gripping member.

Finally, after a relatively short portion 57 of the main or throughcable 58 is bared,

the member 33 is slipped over the former until the same lies in the slot37, the ears 51 enter and'substantially fill the apertures 39, and thereduced portion 35 enters the bore 26,- whereupon the member 25 isscrewed upon the member 33, until the gripping fingers 44, forced intothe bore 27, between its tapering sides and the surface of the conductor54, contract about and firmly hold said conductor, any longitudinallyoutward pull on the latter operating to increase the gripping power ofthe fingers thereon.

As this operation takes place, it is also readily obvious that ;'anytendency of the reduced portion 35- of the member 33 to contract isprevented by the ears 51 filling the apertures 39. Also, a large surfacecontact between the device and the conductor 57 is insured, as a resultof the sides of the grooves 37 and 52 in the respective members 33 and50 uniting, to form a substantially continuous bearing surfacecircumferentially of and against said conductor, This large area ofcontact, together with that existing between the fingers 44 and theconductor 54 prevents any heating thereof by heavy currents. After beingassembled, the projection of the ends of the fingers 44 from the-bore 27together with the aperture 30 permits an inspector to readily observe ata glance the extent of the coiiperation of the members tents andpurposes like that above described.

At the top of sheet 2 of the drawings are shown several forms which thegripping member may assume. Fig. 7 shows one similar to that abovedescribed, except that the parallel peripheral grooves 61 and 62encircle the outside and inside surfaces transversely of the slots 63.In Fig. 8 slots 64 and 65 are cut inwardly from the opposite ends of themember, while longitudinal grooves 66 extend between said slots on theouter surface. Fig. 9 has spirally extending internal grooves 68crossing the slots 69, while in Fi 10 there is shown a simplecombination 0 slots 70 and 71 extending inwardly from the opposite ends.

In these forms, generally speaking, the slots create suppleness orflexibility and make it possible for the fingers to contract, while therooves tend to increase the opposition of t e gripping member oncesecured from slipping longltiudinally within or upon the bore 27 andconductor 54, respectively. While the gripping members may be made ofany suitable metal, soft copper or brass is very efiicient, since theymake it possible for that art to bend or dent and more of less regu arlyconform to the surfaces of the neighboring elements.

Fi 11 and 12 illustrate the invention as applied to a coupling forgrounding a conductor to apipe or other suitable object. The member 99is provided with a central, internally threaded aperture 100, openinalso downwardly and bounded on two sides by substantially parallel ears101, each being provided with similar, diagonally extending slots orapertures 102. To secure this memher to a pipe 103, or other suitableground, the former is made to straddle the latter, after which a thinmetallic strip 104, having a head 105, is assed through one of the slots102, around the grounded member 103, and then drawn taut through theother of said slots, after which a suitable pin 106 is inserted into oneof a series of holes in said strip, to prevent the latter from looseningits hold upon the ground.

Into the threaded aperture 100 of the member 99 is screwed a member 108,which surrounds a gripping member 109, through which passes a wire orcable 110, the inner till memes end of said gripping member bearingdirectly against the grounded member and shaped at 111 to conform to thelatter. Such a device obviously eliminates the necessity of wrapping aconductor about a pipe or the like, which is especially objectionablewhen the former is of relatively large size and carrying a heavycurrent. And, while being a permanent coupling, it is also possible toremove the same at will by unscrewing said member 108 from within saidmember 99.

In Figs. 13 and 14 the application of the invention in another form isshown. A cylindrical member 130, internally threaded at its oppositeends 131 and 132, is provided upon one side with an integral, laterallyex- .tending, cylindrical portion 133, internally threaded and openingthrough an aperture 134 into the cylinder 130. Opposite to said apertureand integral with the inner wall of the cylinder is a shoulder 135.

In assembling, the bared ends 136 and 137 of two cables 138 and 139 arepassed through holes 140 in two similar threaded plugs 141 and throughthe cylinder 130, a portion of each of said cables resting upon theshoulder 135. The bared end of a branch cable 142 is then passed througha plug 143 and gripping member 144, said cable and member passingthrough the aperture 134 until they bear against the conductors 138 and139 on the opposite side to the said shoulder.

By then screwing the plug 143 into the portion 133, said cable 142,gripping member 144 and ends 136 and 137 of the main cables are firmlysecured in binding contact. The two plugs 141 are then screwed intoplace as shown, thus twisting said bared ends together to form a firm,uniformly contacting union between them. In this manner a connector isprovided which solidly unitesthe two ends of a pair of electricalconductors and simultaneously joins thereto a third, or branch,conductor of the same or differing size.

From the foregoing description, it is obvious that the present inventionmay be readily adapted to meet many needs of the art of electricalconstruction, and its interpretation should therefore be as broad as thestate of the art permits, the claims being intended to anticipatebroadly the foregoing,

and many other applications of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I 01am and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States is:

1. A connector comprising a member recessed and provided with threads atone end, the walls of said recess being oppositely slotted and adaptedto receive a conductor therethrough, a second member secured to saidfirst member in threaded engagement and provided with a tapered borethrough which passes a second conductor, a split contractible membersurrounding said second conductor within said bore, and a bushing alsoadapted to surround said second conductor and adapted to compress saidfirst conductor against said first member as tilt the engagement betweensaid first and second members is increased, and said split membersliding in said bore contracts, said bushing having oppositely extendingears lying within said slots to prevent a collapsing of said walls.

2. A connector comprising a member recessed and provided with threads atone end, the walls of said recess being oppositely slotted and adaptedto receive a conductor therethrough, a second member secured to firstmember in threaded engagement and provided with a tapered bore throughwhich passes a second conductor, a split contract- -ible membersurrounding said second conductor within said bore, and a bushing alsoadapted to surround said second conductor and adapted to compress saidfirst conductor against said first member as the engagement between saidfirst and second members is increased, and said spilt member sliding insaid bore contracts.

3. A connector comprising a member axially recessed and provided withthreads at one end, the walls of said recess being diametrically slottedand adapted to receive a conductor passing therethrough, a second membersecured to said first member in threaded engagement and provided with anaxial tapered bore through which passes a second conductor, and a splitcontractible member surroundin said second conductor within said bore, ad adapted to compress said first conductor against said first member asthe engagement between said first and second -members is increased, andas said split member moving longitudinally in said tapered borecontracts.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of. twowitnesses.

- ROBERT A. BECKER.

Witnesses:

LAWRENCE E. SHERWOOD, ANNALS W. DAYLEY.

